Hiking Nolde Forest
Date: August 20, 2011
Total Distance: 9.82 miles
Time to Completion: 3:32 (hr:min)
Elevation Gain: 761 feet
Configuration: Two loops - 5 mile outer/3 mile inner
Terrain: Paved, Gravel, Dirt; Single- and Multi-Track; Primarily Hiking
Difficulty: Easy to mild
Hiking with Impunity drove out to Berk's County, PA, which is fast becoming a favorite area of ours to hike! Using the book, AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia by Susan Charkes as a reference again, we decided to go to Nolde Forest and tackle the book's 8 mile hike. While this was not a difficult hike - most of the trails were level - there are two decent elevation gains over the course of the two loops that we travelled.
The views of the surrounding forest were amazing. This is a photographer's playground - great imagery, vibrant colors, and relatively isolated (depending where you are on the trails). While it may not have the most interesting topography, and certainly is not mentally taxing to hike, there are some wonderful looking corridors that appear never-ending. Our point-and-shoot pictures won't do this forest justice.
Nolde Forest is in Reading, Pennsylvania, and is 665 acres of scores of varying species of trees. The forest is named after John Nolde who acquired this property in 1904 and decided to plant the forest with the help of an Austrian forester named William Kohout. In 1966, Pennsylvania acquired the site from the Nolde Family. Five years later, an environmental education center - the state's first - would be established.
The Nolde Family MansionAll these years later, the Nolde Family home still stands on the property, serving as the park's main office. The architecture of the building, which includes a nursery tower, is one part of the hike that you would want to make some time for (note: the office is closed on Saturdays).
After parking in the Sawmill Parking lot, we strapped our packs on, and walked up the steps to the red gravel trail. Some initial confusion on our part meant that we did not follow the directions in the book. AMC's suggestion was to do the inner-loop (involving the Boulevard trails) prior to the outer-loop; however, not ever wanting to do anything strictly by the book, Hiking with Impunity struck out on their own (read: wandered aimlessly for a little over a mile in search of a restroom) before finding themselves on the Middle Road trail.
If you look at the Nolde Forest trail map here, you will see that there is a large network of trails. If you wanted to, you could make any kind of loop that you like, and probably get several days worth of different hikes out of the place! (Note: At the end of this article, we will list exactly what trails we were on so that you may follow them if you so desire.) After taking the Middle Road trail, we ended up back on the loop described in the AMC book, and from here on out we were able to stick to the directions in the book.
The outer loop basically has you walking along the entire perimeter of Nolde Forest; and, the majority of the trek is walking through corridors of trees. Because of the expansiveness of the property, while you will run into other people, it will be few and far between (we went on a particularly nice Saturday in August; while the parking lot was full of people, we ran into very few people on the trails). Staying on this outer loop trail, in which we hiked along the Coffee Pot Hollow Trail (this place had some great trail names!), we eventually found our way to a small loop around the North Pond. While this is nearly at the end of the outer loop, it was a decent place to stop for a longer rest as we knew we would be going on the inner loop as well. It should be pointed out that if the hike is done with the book's instructions in mind correctly, you will see another pond - the Painted Turtle Pond - as well.
After taking a rest at the pond, we continued on our way 
North Pond in Nolde Forestalong the Watershed Trail, which led us back to the Sawmill parking lot - the start of our hike. However, we decided that we wanted to finish out the hike as laid out in the book, so we continued past the parking lot and onto the Boulevard trail loop.
As we walked the Boulevard trail - which took us to the next largest elevation gain of this particular hike - we noticed how well kept the trails of Nolde Forest are. While there are no blazes to follow on the trees, there is no missing the trail, and the intersecting trails are sign-posted so that you know exactly where each turn will take you. Essentially, there is no way to get lost in the forest (unlike our recent hike through Dark Hollow).
The Boulevard trail was mainly gravel giving way to dirt as we climbed higher into the forest. After reaching the pinnacle, we came to an intersection of the Ridge and Boulevard trails. Looking for a different terrain, we took the Ridge trail, which eventually looped back to the Boulevard trail. The Ridge trail was certainly an interesting diversion, and one which you should include if you decide to go to Nolde Forest.
All in all, our hike through Nolde Forest was highly enjoyable. It wasn't overly taxing, neither physically nor mentally. It's a great way to spend a day. Make sure you bring your camera because you'll end up taking a lot of great pictures! We'll be returning there in late Autumn to see the Fall color.
Trails: Watershed --> Middle Road --> Cabin Hollow --> Spruce --> Coffee Pot Hollow --> Beach --> Pond Loop --> Beach --> Sheerland --> Watershed --> Boulevard --> Ridge --> Boulevard --> Watershed --> Sawmill Parking Lot